Glimpse
by coldandwarm
Summary: CHAPTER 2 IS UP. Sasuke/Naruto. Sasuke and Sakura has been dating since shortly after the Uchiha returned. More than eight months later, Naruto learns that they will be officially engaged in three days. The blond tries to hide his disdain, and fails.
1. Chapter 1

**GLIMPSE**

**Chapter 1**

Naruto tried hard to keep a straight face as he listened. He, Sakura and Sasuke were walking along the streets of the Hidden Leaf and he silently thanked the late afternoon sunlight for making it easier to conceal his emotions, the red-orange rays providing the perfect excuse for him to shield his eyes with his right hand and lower his head a little. They may not have been facing each other, but there would have been awkwardness if either one glanced at his direction and saw his stricken features.

He had expected this to come. He and Sakura had talked about this long before Sasuke came back but apparently, several months of anticipating the inevitable still wasn't enough to lessen the effects of what he was hearing.

"I assume you understand what it means when I say we wanted you to be the first to know? Are you listening, AT ALL?" asked Sakura jokingly, nudging his elbow.

_Nothing like a good little pretense to keep things under control, _Naruto thought, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

_Here goes._

He pouted and answered, "S-Sakura-_chan_, that's just awful! Of course I understand!"

The pink-haired ninja felt relieved. She took a deep breath before continuing. "Good. We'll announce it formally on Saturday night at Sasuke's house. Right?" She turned to her pale boyfriend who merely nodded in response.

"Man, you sure like to act cool, don't you, you bastard?" Naruto half-heartedly teased, as he reached for the taller man and ruffled his black hair.

"Hey, cut it out!"

"Well, whatever. Anyway, I'm really happy for you guys." He said it with such sincerity, he couldn't believe his ears. He felt utterly disgusted with himself for two reasons—one, he knew he wasn't in the position to feel upset, yet here he was, suppressing the overwhelming urge to walk out on his two best friends. And two, that he was able to tell a lie so easily, to their faces, using a tone that betrayed everything that Naruto Uzumaki was made of.

For a moment, Sasuke looked as though he just saw something that was out of place, but chose not to say anything about it and muttered a quiet "Thanks."

Sakura began to speak again. "Then you're…really okay with this? I mean you aren't angry or anything…?" She knew it was pointless to ask. They had already gone through this, and everything has been settled, but she just had to. She wanted to see if Naruto could get his act together with Sasuke present.

The blue-eyed boy grinned widely, his eyes typically reduced to two straight lines and his teeth, exposed. "Eh? Of course not! That was a long time ago, Sakura-_chan_! I'm over you. You needn't worry." He gave her the thumbs up and looked her in the eye, still smiling. "Okay?"

He didn't blink—he couldn't. Not until he had convinced her with his intense, reassuring look. Only the two of them knew what Sakura was really asking about, or what he was really asking her to trust him with.

Finally, the female member of Team Kakashi gave a reluctant nod, before smiling weakly.

"Thank you, Naruto…"

"Well then!" the blond started. "Now that we're all done here, I think I'm gonna go treat myself to a few bowls of Ramen. I'll see you two soon, okay? Bye!"

"Don't tell anyone, all right? We'll take care of that!"

"I won't!"

And he ran off, leaving his two slightly amused, slightly bewildered best friends to stare at his retreating back.

Sakura sighed. _Thank you, Naruto._ It was all she had ever said every time the blond did something that allowed her to better appreciate him, and while she knew that it wasn't and would never be enough, it was the only way she could express her gratitude without offering more than what she was willing to give.

At first, the reason she never did more than just use heart-felt words and little gestures of acknowledgement whenever she found herself grateful to Naruto was the well-known fact that he was in love with her. But she knew she couldn't give the very thing that Naruto wanted, which as to be his girlfriend. She also knew that she would never be able to give up on Sasuke no matter what. The boy was alive, and during those days, that was enough for her to keep going.

So she chose to play it safe, never letting any of the things she and Naruto did together be associated with words other than "duty"—duty as a friend and duty as a comrade. She was careful so that Naruto wouldn't misinterpret her actions, and she would always give him that smile—one that always said that friends were all they were going to be. Naruto eventually realized this and decided to stop pursuing her.

But that was then. Her reason had changed. Naruto was no loger in love with her, but with Sasuke. And although her best friend's happiness was extremely important to her, she just wasn't big enough to give up her own. So she asked Naruto to do another thing for her—one that was, in a sense, relatively more difficult than anything he had endured. She asked him, this time directly, to once again, suppress his feelings. She asked him to step aside.

Not that Naruto wouldn't. He'd do it, if it would make Sasuke and Sakura so happy. Sakura knew this. And she intended to live with it, along with the possible consequences of her choice.

"Well, I guess we can start inviting the others now. They're bound to figure out what we're going to be asking them to come over for, but that's okay. We can still-"

"Hey, Sakura."

She turned to her left and looked up to meet his gaze.

"What is it?" she asked lovingly.

"I just have something I need to do. Let's tell the others later. Anyway, Saturday is still three days away."

"Oh, all right," she replied, trying to hide the sadness in her tone. "May I come with you?"

Sasuke shook his head. "It's better if you don't."

_He probably doesn't want me to ask about it either._

"I see…okay then. I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" She hoped he'd ask to meet up later that evening.

"Yeah. Tomorrow."

But Sakura wasn't about to give up. She suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck, her ankles rising as she leaned in for a kiss. It lasted for about five minutes, her tongue gently responding to Sasuke's as it explored the inside of her mouth. She let go, her eyes barely open, a faint blush on her cheeks.

Sasuke then opened his own eyes, a subtle hint of affection evident in the way he looked at her, but it was gone almost as soon as she noticed it.

"I'll see you tomorrow, all right?" he asked softly.

Sakura felt satisfied for the moment and took a step back. She smiled warmly. "All right."

As she watched her boyfriend go, she couldn't help but wonder what it was that he had to say to Naruto that he didn't want her to hear.

_Or it could be that I'm just being paranoid. He didn't say exactly where he was going, after all. Oh, what the hell._

Sakura took a deep breath again before she started to make her way to the Hokage's office. Everything was working perfectly. There was no need to worry. For now, she was going to see if she can of any help to Lady Tsunade, and tomorrow she and Sasuke will invite their friends to come to their engagement party, as promised.

*******

Sasuke inwardly groaned as he walked, still searching for his blond best friend.

_Just where the hell did that moron go?_

It had taken him a little less than forty minutes to get to Ichiraku's by walking and when he got there, he was informed that Naruto left in a hurry after finishing eight bowls of Ramen. It had been an hour and a half now and there was still no sign of the energetic boy.

_Should I try his apartment?_

It sounded logical. After all, it was beginning to get dark.

"Oi, Sasuke!"

Sasuke stopped and turned towards the source of the voice. Naruto was sitting, Indian-style, on top of a lamp post, his left hand supporting his face and the other, lying on his right thigh. He looked very child-like.

"What the fuck are you doing up there?"

_Good question_, Naruto silently admitted as he stared dumbly at nothing in particular, before he came down the lamp post in a fashion similar to how a fireman would a pole.

"Looking for me?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "No, I was touring the village."

"Whoa, grumpy, man!"

"Idiot."

Naruto opened his mouth to say something nasty, but decided against it. Sasuke thought that was odd, and made a mental note to ask about it later. And then there was silence.

"Want to spar?" Naruto asked. Sasuke just stared at him.

"You know, for old times' sake," he continued. "I mean, you've been back for ages and yet the last time we sparred was BEFORE you left the village. Maybe we'll be more at ease afterwards!"

The Uchiha smirked. _That doesn't sound too bad._

It wasn't long before they reached Team Kakashi's usual training spot and neither of them wasted any time. Less than a minute after they arrived, the fight began and sounds made by the clashing of Naruto's knives against Sasuke's sword could be heard.

"So," Clash. "What did you wanna talk about?" Clash.

"You," came the flat reply.

Clash, clash, clash, clash.

Naruto took two steps back to regain his balance after Sasuke's four consecutive strikes. He then attacked with full force.

"Me?" Clash.

"Yeah, You." Clash. "I want to know why you're trying to put on a show." Clash.

Naruto gave a powerful blow that Sasuke was able to deflect using his sword, but not without him being pushed at least sixed meters away, his Geta rubbing against the dry soil on the ground in the process.

He gave Naruto a pointed look as the blond slowly approached him.

"I think we can talk without fighting now, though that was a bit short," said the blue-eyed boy as he extended his hand to partially kneeling Sasuke.

Sasuke took his hand and stood up, his eyes never leaving Naruto's face.

"So why do you do it?"

"Why do I do what?" he asked, genuinely confused.

Sasuke sighed, but he continued. "Acting."

Naruto shrugged and tried to smile. "Oh."

"I'm all ears," It was an indirect way of saying he wasn't going to leave until he got a decent answer.

The blond scratched his head sheepishly and tried to smile once again. Sasuke tried not to wince at his best friend's effort to put on a happy face.

"I didn't think you'd notice."

"I may have been gone a long time, but I know you."

"Do you, really?"

He remained calm in exterior, while his mind began to panic. It stung. The way Naruto said it got to him. There was no hatred in his voice, not even a single trace of sarcasm—there was only sadness. And his bright blue eyes shined with naked pain. Naruto looked beautiful in a perverse sort of manner like that, and Sasuke would have pointed that out had he not been busy asking himself questions like "Just WHAT did I do?" and "What CAN I do?"

He had reason to believe that something which happened recently was making Naruto behave the way he was. They were okay the day he came back, after all. If the blond had only been acting, it shouldn't have taken him this long to notice. He knew his best friend. Perhaps not as well as he'd like to think, but enough for him to safely say that maybe just hours ago, and long after his return, something went wrong. And he was going to find out what it was.

"Naruto, listen. I wan-"

"No, you listen, Sasuke. I waited for you. I chased after you. I kept trying to bring you back because I couldn't let you disappear forever. And now that you're here, well, I guess I counted too much on how you used to ignore all those girls' advances when we were kids, and I assumed that you would keep on doing just that after you've returned."

"This is about Sakura, isn't it."

"No shit."

"You said you were completely over her."

Naruto stared at him for a moment, looking like he was giving what Sasuke had just said a great deal of thought.

"Just…go home, Sasuke."

_What? Now he expects me to leave just like that? No fucking way._

"No. You haven't told me half of it."

"Really, go home."

"NO, DAMN IT!!!"

Naruto was taken aback. Sasuke was far from emotionless. He was refined, but never emotionless. So a few outbursts from him shouldn't come as a surprise—and they didn't—but they were disturbingly surreal. So surreal, they could make Naruto's spine shiver—not with fear, but with a twisted kind of excitement.

"You're going to tell me what I want to know, Naruto. And you're going to do it right now."

Not too far away, Sakura was leaning on her back against a tree as she listened to their conversation. There was no telling where it might lead to, despite the talk she thought she already had with Naruto. She'll ask the blond for his forgiveness later, but for now, she was going to try and make the most of this little eavesdropping session of hers, and somehow turn things to her advantage.

_I knew Naruto couldn't do it. I knew it._

**To Be Continued**

*******

**Note: **What do you think? I'll update this story based on how well it is received. So please review. Thanks! ^_^


	2. Chapter 2

**GLIMPSE**

**Chapter 2**

Sasuke sighed and tried to relax when Naruto didn't respond. He lowered his sword and brought his left hand to caress his raven hair, and began to lazily scratch the back of his head.

"You're a fucking idiot."

"The hell?!"

"You heard me. I don't have time for this shit. Do what you want."

"It was YOU who came looking for me, bastard."

"Yeah? Well, my bad."

"Anyway, I told you to go home!"

Sasuke stared blankly at Naruto's face, as though waiting for something to happen. The blond swallowed.

"There's nothing to say, Sasuke. She chose you," he lied.

Naruto noticed that Sasuke's lips thinned, but ignored it as he went on.

"I guess I knew from the start that I didn't stand a chance but, uh, you know…I was stupid."

Sasuke remained silent.

"But really, go home. I have to deal with this on my own. You know? I'll get over it in a few days, but you gotta leave me alone."

After another pause, Sasuke finally nodded and said, "Fine. Be there on Saturday."

_The bastard fell for it. Makes sense. I'd believe anyone who could lie like that. What the hell's happening to me?_

"Don't order me around, asshole."

"Saturday, Naruto. You better be there." And then Sasuke was gone.

_Still as stuck up as ever._ Naruto smirked. _Stupid jerk._

The blond felt his muscles relax. _Whew_, he thought.

_A few days, huh? Yeah, right. I thought I was going to freak out in front of that jackass just minutes ago._

Naruto released a chuckle that was barely audible, his expression becoming sour. He wasn't sure how long it would take before he can start looking at him again—at THEM again—without his chest tightening because of his unfriendly feelings towards the couple, or rather, what they have. But he lied about that—which, of course, made him miserable. It wasn't that he had to lie, but the knowledge of what he HAD to lie about was what made each attempt feel like a slap in the face.

_I wouldn't feel so crappy if it were something else. But it had to be THIS._

He rubbed his head angrily with both hands as he growled in frustration.

_This BETTER be a temporary thing. If I have to put up with this every day for the rest of my life, I'll go crazy!_

"Naruto-_kun_."

He stopped what he was doing and turned to look at the person who called him.

It was Sai.

_I don't know if I should be glad or-_

"Lady Tsunade wants to see you."

"Eh? Did she say why?" he asked lazily.

"It's likely that she has a mission for us."

Naruto snorted. He knew that missions can come at any time, especially if they were urgent, but he just wasn't in the mood to be assigned one right now.

"Fine, fine. Let's get going," he replied and started walking. Sai followed.

"How did it go?"

"How did what go?"

"Your little talk with Sasuke-_kun_."

He eyed his stoic companion quizzically. "How'd you know about that?"

"I heard you three just before you left him and Sakura-_san_. And then I followed you here to tell you about Lady Tsunade, but Sasuke-_kun_ arrived."

Naruto blinked a few times, scratching the lower left part of his face with his left hand in confusion. "Why didn't you just tell me BEFORE I left them? You were there already, weren't you?"

Sai stayed silent for about twenty seconds, before saying, "I am unable to answer that question."

"Why the hell not?"

"I am yet to read about such situations."

Naruto didn't buy it. "That was lame, even for you. You were spying."

_I suppose I let my guard down. I should have sensed him._

Sai's left eye-brow moved in a way that somehow confirmed the blond's accusation. It was very subtle, and would have escaped Naruto's eyes if he hadn't been looking closely.

"You were spying," he repeated. "Admit it!"

"I did no such thing. My hearing you was incidental. I was looking for you because the Fifth asked me to. That's it."

"Have you got the nerve to say that even though you spied on me TWICE-"

"I told you, I wasn't-"

"-that both occasions were INCIDENTAL?"

"Well, yes. And why I didn't come out the first time when I could have—as I've said—remains to be seen."

Naruto stayed quiet for a moment. "Sai, I believe I've told you this before. Read the situation first, before you make any move, you psycho, especially if you plan to use your books as your basis."

"Exactly, so you have to believe me when I say I have to read about it first," Sai answered indifferently and earned himself a dirty look.

"Smart-ass," Naruto growled and continued. "Anyway, you can't deny that you were spying, and I want to know why. And I'm not waiting 'till you've read about it! That's cheating! We both know you already know the reason, but you just want to play it safe which is why you need to buy yourself time and calculate things according to what your book says so you can answer me without giving away your real reason. You just want to make sure!"

The pale ninja decided to ignore Naruto's first five sentences and focused on the last one. "Well, I don't see anything wrong with wanting to be certain. Nor do I find it particularly odd for someone to want to be prepared. But I assure you, it isn't for the purpose of deceiving you."

_Anything but that, _Sai added mentally.

Naruto still looked suspicious, but decided it was pointless to keep asking and said nothing.

*******

"Hey, Sakura!" Ino called, making her friend stop.

"Oh, Ino," Sakura answered, turning around. "What's going on?"

"We're having a little barbeque party at home. Shikamaru and Choji are already there, as well as the rest of Team Gai and Team Kurenai. Why don't you join us? We'll ask Naruto and Kakashi-_sensei _together, and I'll help you persuade Sasuke-_kun_!"

"I…I'm not sure, Ino. I asked Sasuke-_kun_ if we could do something together this afternoon, but he appeared to be rather tired, and he did ask for it to be postponed."

"A date?"

"Not really. Just something I wish we could have done together today."

"Oh? And just what WAS that, you naughty girl, you?!" Ino teased.

Sakura blushed. "It's nothing like that!"

"Oh, SURE it isn't. You just can't get enough of him, can you? Now you want him to make up for all the times you spent obsessing over him and chasing after him, aren't you? Aren't youuuuuu?"

_Yeah, I was obsessed with him, wasn't I…? I still am. But I wasn't the one who really chased after him…_

"Hey, Sakura, don't you faint on me, girl!"

She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Ino. I'd love to come, really I would. But if he's tired and doesn't feel like coming, then I guess I should just stay home too."

"What?! Where the hell have you been?! Can't a girl have fun while her boyfriend rests at his own house?! How can staying home for him be of any help when you're not even living under the same roof? That, and you're not even married yet, for chrissake!"

Sakura's eye-brows twitched at this. "Actually…"

"Eh…?"

"Ino, I have a favor to ask. Since almost everyone we know is at your party…" She motioned for the blonde to come closer so she could whisper in her ear.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

Sakura just nodded, unable to stop herself from blushing. "You heard it right. On Saturday."

"You lucky bitch!"

"Heh. I'm not sure I like the way you said that, but thanks anyway."

"Damn, I can't believe little miss forehead-girl here has all the luck!"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, it's true."

Sakura wanted to ask which part was true, the thing about her forehead or her luck. But a different question came out instead. "Are you saying you still have feelings for Sasuke-_kun_?!"

Ino shrugged. "Well, yeah. A little. Not enough to actually try to steal him away from you though."

"I see," Sakura said as she raised her left eye-brow.

"But I bet I could."

She glared at the blonde. "Don't. You. DARE."

"Oh, no? Says who?"

"Ino!"

"Just kidding!" Ino said, trying to keep herself from laughing so hard. "You totally fell for it," she added, still giggling.

"Ugh."

"Well, are you absolutely sure you want ME to tell everyone? I mean, like you said, it'd make a lot more sense if you and Sasuke-"

"I know, but I have this feeling that something might go wrong if I keep asking him to."

"You don't think he's going to back down, do you?"

Sakura pursed her lips, obviously thinking carefully about what Ino had just asked. "No, of course not. I just figured it'd be better this way. He isn't the sort of guy who'd such things anyway. And I wouldn't want to get into an argument with him again. At least not until after the engagement party."

"Mm, tough."

"One must learn how to adjust or the relationship just wouldn't work."

"And how's HE adjusting?"

Sakura faked a smile. "Getting there," she lied. "Slowly, but surely."

"All right then. I'll go see if I can get Lady Tsunade, Shizune, and Kakashi-_sensei_ to come. I'll ask Kiba to fetch Naruto. Be careful on your way home, okay?"

"I will, thanks. You too."

"See ya," With that, Ino was off and Sakura proceeded to head home.

The conversation that Naruto and Sasuke had that afternoon, which she had secretly listened to, didn't quite progress the way she thought it would. That, of course, was a good thing. She was relieved, but…

_What if it happens again?_

That was the question. It went well now, sure, but how long can Naruto keep it up?

Sakura shook her head, determined to do something about the matter instead of letting her fear get the better of her.

_Sasuke doesn't know Naruto thinks of him that way. Even if he IS aware of it, there's always the possibility that his feelings for Naruto are only that of a friend._

She made a face and rubbed her temples gently with her left hand.

_What am I getting all scared for? Sasuke's engaged to me. He wouldn't have proposed to me if it's Naruto he wants._

_But_, another voice said_, what if he's just not aware of it yet…?_

She straightened up. "I have to find out what he thinks of all this."

"Whose thoughts?"

She froze after hearing Sasuke's cold, commanding voice. She turned around very slowly.

"Sasuke-ku-"

"You were there."

Sakura didn't say anything. She knew exactly what Sasuke was talking about. He knew she was there that afternoon, during and after his short spar with Naruto, and was obviously demanding an explanation. She didn't find it surprising. This was Sasuke Uchiha, after all. But she was nervous nonetheless.

"Well?"

"Oh," she said dumbly, not looking into Sasuke's eyes. "I was just a little disappointed that you didn't want me to come with you, and then I felt like going to where we'd usually train in the woods. I didn't know that's where you went, too."

"Why didn't you come out or leave when you saw us?"

"I didn't want interrupt you guys."

"I know you didn't. You put considerable effort into concealing your presence."

Sakura's mind was panicking now. She had no idea where their little exchange was going. All she wanted was for it to end right then and there so she can get home real soon.

"I just wanted to know what you guys were talking about. You didn't want me to come along and I got curious. Turned out to be nothing."

Sakura waited for Sasuke to say something, but nothing came. She instead heard his footsteps as the Uchiha started walking away without so much as a good-bye.

*******

Naruto groaned, arms crossed.

"Oh, enough with the whiny tone," replied Tsunade, looking pointedly at the boy standing in front of her desk. "Besides, all the other teams have had their turns."

"THAT's your reason for picking me?! How sloppy!"

"SHUT UUUP!!!" The Hokage's eyes looked almost as big as plates at that moment as she slammed her fists on the wooden table, destroying it in the process. Naruto did as he was told.

"This will be a four-man cell, " Tsunade continued, briefly eyeing Kakashi, Yamato, and Sai. "You will leave first thing tomorrow morning. Shizune, hand the documents to Kakashi."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Man, talk about bad timing," Naruto said.

"Tell me about it," Ino agreed. "This means you all can't make it to the little gathering I'm having at my house tonight!"

"Shizune and I will be there, Ino," Tsunade answered with a small smile.

"The hell you will!"

"The hell was that, boy?! You wanna fight me now?! Huh?! EH?!"

Yamato watched the scene with mild interest. "Well, I suppose we all better get some sleep. Let's go, Naruto," he said as he dragged the collar of the blond boy's orange sweater from the back.

"Hold it."

They all turned and saw Sasuke at the door.

"Why was I not informed?"

"I thought you should sit this one out," Tsunade said rather dismissively, as she sat back on her chair.

"And why is that?"

"I heard from Sakura that you have some very important things to attend to." Naruto stilled as Tsunade said this, he noticed. The Hokage continued, seeing quite plainly that the Uchiha had no intention of letting it go. "Naruto and Sai will be accompanied by two Jonins. You won't be needed."

"I'll talk to Sakura. If you're not going to let me join this mission, then you might as well ruin that very important thing that she mentioned."

"Who'd make a threat like that? Cancel your engagement if you want to, but you aren't going."

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"It's not a threat, "Sasuke finally said. "I'm just saying that allowing me to join this mission has a lot to do with the engagement." Sasuke glanced at Naruto, who was uncharacteristically quiet. "Among other things," he added.

Tsunade looked at Sasuke, then at Naruto, then back at him.

"Well," Kakashi said in his usual relaxed but indifferent tone. "I don't think it's such a bad idea. We'll get the job done faster, and he did say that he'll talk to Sakura."

Tsunade sighed. "Fine. Ask them about the details."

They all bowed and proceeded to exit the room.

Sasuke was the last to do so. "Thank you, Lady Tsunade," he said, and he too went out the door.

"Meet us at the gate tomorrow. We'll discuss everything."

"Don't be late, _sensei_." He emphasized the last word and Kakashi chuckled. Behind the silver-haired Jonin, Sasuke could see Naruto and Sai walking away.

_This time, I'll make sure you speak up, Naruto._

**To Be Continued**

*******

**Review Responses**

**diaryanjo****: **Well, here it is. And as you can see, Naruto is yet to confess. Still, I hope you liked this chapter.

**darkleaf954****: **I couldn't help it. I hope you didn't find chapter 2's ending as frustrating.

**kit52491****: **I'm glad you do.

**wolfchik666****: **I can see where you're coming from. I'm not a big fan of Sakura myself. I seriously hope Sasuke doesn't end up with her in the manga.

**Vampy-Note****: **It is? You are? Awesome! I hope the succeeding chapters don't disappoint you.

**Zandamh****: **There'll be plenty of SasuNaru moments, so worry not.

**KagomeGirl021****: **Yeah, she sounds like somebody who keeps trying to rationalize everything in this story, doesn't she? Let's see if that changes.

Thanks for reading. But I'd be a lot happier if you submit a review like those lovely people up there. ^_^


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